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The Atlas of Italian Amphibians and Reptiles presents the distribution, ecology and conservation status of the 37 species of amphibians and the 50 species of reptiles found in Italy. A 10x10 km UTM grid map is supplied for each species, on the basis of more than 70.000 records contributed by 900 collaborators during the Societas Herpetologica Italica survey project, started in 1994. Entries, illustrated with photos, are subdivided into the following headings: taxonomy, general distribution, comments on the distribution map, habitat, altitudinal distribution, annual activity cycle, reproduction and status of the Italian populations. General sections on biogeography, history of herpetology in Italy, paleoherpetology and herpetological fauna of the small Italian islands are also included. Italian and English text.

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In its thirtieth session the Commission reviewed the intersessional activities of its Scientific Advisory Committee (SAC) and its Committee on Aquaculture (CAQ). Based on the advice emanating from SAC and proposals by Members, the GFCM adopted respectively: three binding recommendations on fisheries management measures, including on fishing effort and on the protection of sensitive habitats; two recommendations on illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing, including on the establishment of a black list of vessels and on data confidentiality procedure. It also endorsed three recommendations from the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT), including on the establishment of a programme for transshipment by large-scale longliners. The GFCM reiterated its satisfaction with progress made in the implementation of the five regional projects executed by FAO in support of the Commission. The Commission ascertained its financial situation and agreed to use arrears to build a Working Capital Fund. In the Secretariat, it established a post of Statistician and a post of Programmer/System Analyst. Work progress related to the new headquarters of the Commission was reviewed. The Commission decided to postpone the adjustments to its Rules of Procedure to its next plenary. The Commission established a Compliance Committee. It formalized the Environment Aquaculture Mediterranean Network (EAM) and the Statistical Information System on Aquaculture (SIPAM) as subsidiary bodies of CAQ, and endorsed the guidelines prepared by the Joint GFCM/ICCAT Working Group on Sustainable Tuna Farming. The Commission agreed on its programme of work and adopted its autonomous budget for the year 2006. The GFCM elected its new Bureau

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The biosphere -- the Earth's thin layer of life -- dates from nearly four billion years ago, when the first simple organisms appeared. Many species have exerted enormous influence on the biosphere's character and productivity, but none has transformed the Earth in so many ways and on such a scale as Homo sapiens. In Harvesting the Biosphere, Vaclav Smil offers an interdisciplinary and quantitative account of human claims on the biosphere's stores of living matter, from prehistory to the present day. Smil examines all harvests -- from prehistoric man's hunting of megafauna to modern crop production -- and all uses of harvested biomass, including energy, food, and raw materials. Without harvesting of the biomass, Smil points out, there would be no story of human evolution and advancing civilization; but at the same time, the increasing extent and intensity of present-day biomass harvests are changing the very foundations of civilization's well-being. In his detailed and comprehensive account, Smil presents the best possible quantifications of past and current global losses in order to assess the evolution and extent of biomass harvests. Drawing on the latest work in disciplines ranging from anthropology to environmental science, Smil offers a valuable long-term, planet-wide perspective on human-caused environmental change.

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This book presents the results of the biodiversity hotspots - those discrete, biogeographic regions that are known to hold at least 1,500 plants as endemics and that have lost at least 70% of their primary native vegetation.

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Prepared by the European Renewable Energy Council (EREC), this work examines the current status, potential and trends associated with renewable energy technologies, covering biomass, geothermal energy, solar thermal, solar photovoltaic, small hydro and wi

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This book outlines a system that subdivides the Earth into a hierarchy of increasingly finer-scale ecosystems that can serve as a consistent framework for ecological analysis and management. The system consists of a three-part, nested hierarchy of ecosystem units and associated mapping criteria. This new edition has been updated throughout with new text, figures, diagrams, photographs, and tables.

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"Giovanni Verga is one of the masters of European literature, and his novel The House by the Medlar Tree is a great work. I am very happy to see it reprinted and I hope that many people will read it."--Iriving Howe

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Plant Evolution in the Mediterranean integrates a diverse and scattered literature to produce a synthetic account of plant evolutionary ecology. The central theme is differentiation, both among and within species in the contemporary flora of the Mediterranean basin. This approach is developed by attempting to link population processes to species evolution, and by examining the variation and evolution of ecological function in the context of spatial habitat variation and regional history. This accessible text explores the evolutionary processes which have shaped plant evolution in the context of these major influences on vegetation.

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The book presents an overview of the International practices and state-of-the-art of LCA studies in the agri-food sector, both in terms of adopted methodologies and application to particular products; the final purpose is to characterise and put order within the methodological issues connected to some important agri-food products (wine, olive oil, cereals and derived products, meat and fruit) and also defining practical guidelines for the implementation of LCAs in this particular sector. The first chapter entails an overview of the application of LCA to the food sector, the role of the different actors of the food supply chain and the methodological issues at a general level. The other chapters, each with a particular reference to the main foods of the five sectors under study, have a common structure which entails the review of LCA case studies of such agri-food products, the methodological issues, the ways with which they have been faced and the suggestion of practical guidelines.